Rower Milena Venegas, first Cuban athlete to compete in Tokyo 2020

TOKYO, Japan, Jul 22 (ACN) With a strong sense of responsibility, rower Milena Venegas will be the first Cuban athlete to see action in the 2020 Olympic Games on the July 23 qualifiers for women's single scull (1x), to be held at the Sea Forest Waterway in Tokyo Bay.

Venegas will be on the fifth of six qualifying heats, along with four other single scull rowers seeking to advance to final A, scheduled for July 30, namely Magdalena Lobnic (Australia), Tala Abujbara (Qatar), Carling Zeeman (Canada) and Maike Diekmann (Namibia).

In statements to ACN, Venegas and her coach Jose Luis Mendez agreed that the goal is to get as far up the qualifying ladder as possible and make it to the B final (places 7 to 12).

The young Cuban rower pointed out that she will keep a positive mindset and try to surpass the said goal. “I am very happy to be in my first Olympic Games, the biggest dream of every athlete. I will be 100% focused,” she said.

She got her ticket to Tokyo in March, when she finished fourth in the A final of the Americas qualifiers held in the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake, in Rio de Janeiro. After that she went to a training base in Italy and competed in the Rowing World Cup in Lucerne, where she finished second in the C final (fourteenth place overall).

“I am in peak condition despite the training problems caused by the pandemic. I even tested positive to COVID-19, but I gave it all in every training session and now I will push myself to the max,” she remarked. “Unfortunately, none of my teammates is here, so it's up to me to represent Cuban rowing alone in Tokyo. I will try to make everyone proud of me,” she noted.

As to the future after Tokyo, Venegas explained that she will concentrate on the next Olympic cycle for Paris in 2024, when she will be much more mature. “The medals will come, that’s for sure!”